Catching up

[Murfreesboro]

You are such a good writer, HH. I especially enjoyed your descriptions of your private moments with your great aunt and your mother. So touching.

My older son has been traveling extensively ever since he was in college. He loves Italy and has been there several times. He tells me Rome is in his opinion the 'most European city" he knows. He has really explored Florence, Venice, Pompeii, and Ostia as well. I don't think he's ever been to Milan. That would be so awesome, to stand before the original Last Supper .

He's never been to Greece or Turkey, though a few years ago he talked about wanting to go to Turkey. I believe he knows a few people who've been there. I know at least one couple at church who've been to Ephesus.

I've never been to the Mediterranean and would love to visit all those places. I did see the Elgin Marbles, from the Parthenon, in the British Museum as a teenager. And of course Nashville has a replica of the Parthenon in Centennial Park, which I visited many times as a Vanderbilt student, when it was practically my yard ( I was a grad student and lived off campus). Since it is intact, any time you have seen an intact Parthenon on tv or in the movies, you've seen the one in Nashville. It was erected for the Centennial Celebration of the city, I think in 1880, because back then, Nashville was not famous for country music, but for its plethora of universities. It was called The Athens of the South.

[TheHeadlessHorseman]

Thank you both for the kind words, and for taking the time to read it. I know it was long, but I'm glad you enjoyed it.

As I mentioned, we have already promised Sam that we will definitely go back to Italy one day, as she really fell in love with the culture there, and there is so many more locations that we want to visit such as some of the places that your son has been to Murf.

My wife and I have already discussed the possibility of going back for Sam's 16th birthday, as we think it would be a awesome sweet 16 gift for her. Of course, that is 5 years from now, and her 11th birthday is in a few days and we already know that there is no way we can currently give her a birthday experience anywhere close to what Phoebe had, but we will still do something to make her day memorable for her, not that it's a competition, but as a parent you don't want one kid to feel less special than the other.

As for possibly of topping this vacation, I'm sure that eventually we will as there are plenty of other destinations we want to visit, and as the kids get older we can go to places that we know they will appreciate more as their interests grow. I have always wanted to go to Egypt, but I know that in recent years they have been more strict with tourists and it would be a wasted trip if you went that far and didn't get to go inside the Pyramids. But as I said, there are many beautiful places to visit, and I'm sure that we will go somewhere special for our next summer vacation.

Also, I honestly didn't know about the replica of the Parthenon in Nashville until you mentioned it Murf, I just Googled it and it's pretty impressive. It just goes to show you that there are still so many amazing places right here at home that you can explore.

[TheHeadlessHorseman]

I just woke up and re-read my post and realized that I made a mistake, I said ... As for possibly of topping this vacation.

I should have omitted the word OF, I guess that's what happens when you're up typing at 3am.

[Murfreesboro]

Oh, my phone makes so many "corrections" for me that my eyes just slipped right over that. It takes me several proof reads to catch them all, if I do.

We are very blessed in America that our country spans a whole continent (and then some), so we can experience every climate and natural wonder imaginable without leaving the US. Of course we don't have the deep history of Europe, but we do have a lot of history here, too.

I hope you do get to return to Europe for Sam's sweet 16. Her mid-summer birthday makes that very doable. Would you choose a cruise next time?

One place I've dreamed of visiting is the Holy Land. I got far enough along with it that I was looking at tours on line. Some of them include Ephesus and Egypt. Maybe even Gteece. Of course, those are more expensive. But I had just about set my sights on one when Oct 7 happened. That made me shift it to the back burner.

[TheHeadlessHorseman]

Honestly, while I loved the cruise, I found that the schedule restricted our time in each place, and I think the slower pace works well for older people that want to take it easy and enjoy the cruise itself, rather than the places it travels to, so if we ever go on a cruise again it will probably be when I'm older and have less strength to run around like I do now.

I think the next time we go to any exotic destinations we will just fly directly there and spend a whole week in each place so that we can enjoy everything they have to offer without rushing through it.

Both my mother and I have always wanted to visit the Holy Land as well, but I know that the countries in that part of the world have been perpetually in a state of disagreement with each other since Biblical days, and with my luck, I'm sure that Armageddon will start as soon as I get there.

As for this continent, the furthest I've been is Nevada and California, and on the other side, Florida. My mother told me that we went to Texas when I was 2 but I don't remember it. We still have family there, so maybe one day I'll go there, as I know there are a few historical places there I want to visit. I would also like to visit Mexico one day, as they have some beautiful resorts there.

In the other direction, I've been to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls many times, and their tourist area on Clifton Hill is still a good place to visit. I also have family in Toronto and I've been there multiple times over the years.

There are still so many more amazing attractions and historical destinations in between both points of this beautiful piece of land we are on that I want to visit, and I'm sure that as the kids get older we will travel more often so that they can experience some of the beauty this country has to offer.

[Murfreesboro]

My mother was always hesitant about Holy Land tours for the very reasons you cite. But lots of people do go there. Our former minister"s wife said that her hairdresser goes every other year.

When I was a teenager, my uncles gifted me with a Mexican tour to Mexico City, Taxco, and Acapulco. It was quite fascinating. I learned that what we think of as Mexican food is just street food to them. They eat tacos and burritos, etc, but the same way we would eat hot dogs. We went to some upscale restaurants and had some genuinely delicious meals, so many tropical fruits and vegetables.

On one memorable day we went out from Mexico City to tour the Aztec pyramids. My uncle and I climbed all the way to the top of the Pyramid of the Sun. Later that day, we dined at a restaurant on a bull ranch, where they bred bulls for the ring. The restaurant was shaped like a bull ring. After dinner we could volunteer to fight bull calves they had there, and I opened that show. The calves were not as small as I'd imagined they'd be, and they scared me a little. One man who also did it got head butted by the bull and flew up into the air. He broke his arm and had to fly home to the States.

Silver jewelry is very cheap down there. My main souvenir from that trip was a silver medallion of an Aztec calendar. I still have that piece.

Another thing worth doing is the Ballet Folklorico in Mexico City. They tell the whole history of their nation through dance. It is very memorable.

I recall seeing whole fields of poinsettias growing in the countryside, in preparation for the Christmas season a few months later.

We ended our tour in Acapulco, which I still recall as one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen with my own eyes. For many years my top three spots on that private list, in no particular order, were Acapulco, San Francisco, and Salzburg, Austria. A few years ago, when my sons and I did the road trip out West, I had to add Grand Teton to that list.

Texas: I am very familiar with Texas. My father's sister settled in Austin, so I've had relatives there all my life. Then, as a newlywed, I lived there from 1981-85. At that time my husband was a military officer stationed at Ft Hood (now Cavassos) in Killeen. Most recently, in June '23, my three kids and I attended a family reunion in Austin on the occasion of my cousin's 50th wedding anniversary. My younger two had never been to Texas before, so after Austin we pushed on to San Antonio; where I'd gone for my honeymoon. In San Antonio, besides the Alamo, you don't want to miss the River Walk. The next day we pushed on to Corpus Christi and Padre Island, where we spent a beach day on the Gulf.

[TheHeadlessHorseman]

It sounds like you have had some awesome experiences while traveling Murf!

You mentioned climbing to the top of the Pyramid of the Sun, that is something that I would love to do, but I don't know if they allow tourists to do that anymore, as I know that a lot of destinations with ancient structures restrict access to tourists these days for a number of reasons, mainly to preserve them, but also to stop vandalism. When we were in Italy and we visited the Colosseum, they warned everybody before letting us inside that anybody caught vandalizing the premises would be prosecuted for it, they said that in recent years tourists have been writing/carving their names and profanity into the structure, and it's mostly been young people that do it and then post about it on social media.

It sickens me that some people have no respect for the history of the world that we are preserving, and that they would vandalize ancient structures just to get some laughs from their equally stupid and disrespectful peers online. I know that's the same reason why they restrict people when they visit the Pyramids in Egypt, it's a shame that some morons ruined it for the rest of us that actually care about our history.

[Murfreesboro]

That's very sad indeed, and I have no idea what would be permitted today at those pyramids. I do recall that it was harder to climb them than I'd expected. The steps are awkwardly large near the bottom, and toward the top they have eroded away, so you have to scramble up with your hands near the top. However, there is an earthen platform of sorts on the very top, so you have no trouble standing and walking around on it.

A few months after the Mexico trip I was on a brief tour to England with a school group. We went to Stonehemge, and at that time you could walk right up and touch it. There was some graffiti there already, and a few years later they roped it off, so tourists had to look at it from a short distance. That was true for several decades, I think, but I believe I've read that now you xan walk into it again.

Have you ever been to Natural Bridge in Virginia? As a young surveyor, George Washington carved his name on it. Even though you look from the far side of the river, his name is very visible. What struck me about it was how high up he did it. Most people would never be able to reach that spot. He must have been a very athletic young man.